Hey Guys,

If you follow me on Instagram, you may be aware that I was recently away on holidays with my family and my boyfriend Adrian. Before now, the general approach I took with sharing my adventures was writing a kind of travel diary. If we were honest about things though, a diary of things I got up to while on my holidays is probably not useful for you and you probably don’t care too much about what I did. What you might care about though is the associated pros and cons of certain travel destinations so I thought I would change the style up a bit. Instead of a travel diary, I will be providing reviews of places I’ve been to, making sure to include the pros and cons of the destination, what I expected and didn’t expect and finally things I didn’t have the chance to do. Hopefully, it’ll help you if you’re debating heading somewhere or it might give you an idea of what to add to your bucket list.

So today we are starting with the first destination which was my most recent endeavour – The Amalfi Coast. Situated in Southern Italy, the coast boasts of glorious crystal blue waters, magnificent panoramic views of the Gulf of Naples and Mount Vesuvio as well as cute little hilltop villages speckled across the coastline. During our stay, we stayed in the village of Furore, which is situated between the towns of Amalfi and Praiano.

The Views - There really is no denying that some of the views I've seen during my stay at the Amalfi Coast were some of the most stunning views I have ever laid eyes on. The crystal blue waters, the hilltop villages and the views of Mount Vesuvius along the Bay of Naples. The Panoramic views are really a selling point of this destination and are well worth seeing. You can also get a few cheeky Insta pics too! ;)

Lots of things to do – There's definitely a large array of things to do in the Amalfi Coast. On our last full day of the trip, Ad and I did a scuba dive with La Boa diving centre on Marina di Praia which was amazing. I really highly recommend this company. I organised the whole dive with Gabriella by email and she arranged everything from tip to toe and was so lovely to me. There are also lots of boat companies which take boat trips from village to village including La Boa who we did our Scuba dive with. In the week, we only did one boat trip (return) with Travel Mar which operates boats from one village to the next etc. If you're more of a historian, Pompeii and Vesuvius are approximately an hour's drive away and there is lots to be learned about the impact of the Eruption of Vesuvius on the city of Pompeii. 

Gelato – Being in Italy, I was sure that the gelato wouldn't disappoint. There were lots of places selling homemade gelato as you'd expect and all were delightful! 

Food – Although we didn't eat out every night during our stay, there were some pretty good restaurants around. On our first night, we headed to a place called L'Incanto which specialised mainly in seafood. However, they also offered gluten-free options and pizzas. Being a lover of seafood, I really enjoyed this joint. We were recommended a huge sharing platter of seafood as a starter which I followed with a seafood pasta. However, the boys weren't the biggest fans of the pizza served here. The second place we went to the following day (Luca's in Furore) did a better job on the pizza. However, I went for a delicious carbonara that night which was equally delicious. So if you're around the area of Furore, these two places are worth checking out! 

Lots of Transport Available - If you're not renting a car, you'll be happy to know that the transport is seemingly abundant. I noticed it mainly in Amalfi which is somewhere you might consider staying if you're going for this option to take transport everywhere. Both buses and boats were available to all the popular touristic villages surrounding and close to Amalfi. 

The Negatives




Following the highs, come the lows. I really feel that these are the things you wish you knew about a place before coming and will probably impact most on your decision whether you want to come and visit. So I bring you the negatives. Personally, they didn't ruin my trip but I thought that I'd give you a heads up about them!

Noisy traffic - We were staying in a lovely hilltop house in the village of Furore overlooking sparkling blue waters. Sounds idyllic, doesn't it? However, this bliss is easily diminished when there are all sorts of traffic passing by the house on a regular basis. Loud buses and speedy cars passed by pretty often when we were at the house. Although some days were quieter than others.

Crazy Drivers – The drivers in the Amalfi Coast are pretty insane to be honest and would often be very chaotic. If you're uneasy driving at home in the first place, I'd be aware of how dangerously the drivers in the south drive and often throw a lot of the rules of the road out the window.

Parking – If you want to get a good parking space in these villages, it's best to arrive early. My family aren't the earliest of risers and because I have two brothers who have cystic fibrosis they have a lot of treatments to do in the morning. So there is no surprise why we ran into a problem of finding a parking space with ease. Normally, we'd find somewhere a little further than we'd initially hoped for! As well as that, the price of parking was pretty expensive so you'll need to bear that in mind when accounting for travel expenses.

Windy Roads – It may seem naive, but I really did not expect the roads to be as windy and bendy as they were. In fact, nobody in my family did. Although the windy roads add to the whole atmosphere of the Amalfi Coast, it really isn't a treat for those who suffer from motion sickness. Both my mother and younger brother were car sick on the road and I felt sick but never actually vomited. Therefore, I'd not recommend road trips on the Amalfi Coast to families with young children who suffer from car sickness. I used to a lot when I was younger and it actually sucks. 

Torrential Rainfall - Large amounts of sunshine were followed by torrential levels of rainfall on this trip. Being from Ireland, which is famous for its rain (although I don't believe it rains as much as some Irish claim), I wasn't expecting the levels of rainfall we got. I don't even know if it is a typical thing in the Amalfi Coast for the rain to follow lots of sunshine. On one of the days, a heavy storm occurred shortly after we arrived in Positano by boat from Amalfi. The storm got so bad that I didn't even know if we were going to make it back to Amalfi to get our car.

One of the things I hate when on holiday is if it rains. We get enough of it at home and the purpose of going away in the first place is to escape it. Not only did it spoil Positano a little, but I also had to postpone a dive I had scheduled for Thursday because the storm made water visibility worse.

There's not exactly anything that can be done to avoid rainfall when you're away. None of us are fortune tellers, so sometimes you need to bear in mind that these things can happen and be prepared for the worst. 

What we didn’t see

Capri – Capri is an island south to the Bay of Naples and something I've nicknamed the "Aran Island" of the Amalfi Coast! For those of you who don't know, the Aran Islands are a set of three islands off the coast of Galway in Ireland! This is a mystical little island which oozes in culture and history as well as hidden coves, grottos and bathing inlets. Capri is easily reachable by ferry or water taxi from beautiful Sorrento or Naples itself. 

Ravello and Atrani – Ravello and Atrani are two other villages just a skip away from Amalfi and I wish we visited them instead of spending another half a day in Amalfi. Atrani was recommended to me by an Australian girl I met in the Czech Republic who also visited the Amalfi Coast. She said that the village of Atrani was very charming and have a beautiful walkway to Ravello. 

Grotta dello Smeraldo - The Grotta Dello Smeraldo is a cave with stalactites and stalagmites which is partially overflowed by sea water. Located on the Amalfi Coast, and not too far away we definitely missed an opportunity for another exciting tour/boat trip.  

List of places we went to 

For all those interested, the following is a list of places we managed to visit during our week's stay in the Amalfi Coast. Bear in mind, we had a fairly casual week and managed to fit this in so you could fit in more if you are an intense tourist i.e. like to do a lot while on holiday!


- An afternoon in Minori
- A day in Pompeii followed by a short visit to Vesuvius with epic views of Naples
- An afternoon at Marina di Praia
- A drink in Amalfi followed by a boat trip to Positano
- An Afternoon in Positano with Lunch
- A day in Sorrento
- A morning Scuba Dive with La Boa Diving Centre on Marina di Praia and half a day in Amalfi


Overall, I would highly rate and recommend the Amalfi Coast. If you're looking for phenomenal panoramic views, windy villages which you could lose yourself in or beautiful crystal clear waters, then you would definitely enjoy yourself. Although there could be rainfall or dangerous drivers around, you can't let that dampen your spirits. It's just something to be aware and prepared for. 

Have you been to the Amalfi Coast? What are the highs and the lows of the destination in your opinion?